Mark Schwarzer retires from Socceroos football while fond Fulham and Middlesbrough memories remain

Penalty saves, an authority in the box and backed by European pedigree: Mark Schwarzer brought all this and more to the Australian back-line in a 20-year spell as the Socceroos' first choice between the sticks.

Schwarzer will always be associated with some of the greatest-ever moments in Socceroos history.

Mark Schwarzer's career

Born: October 6, 1972 in Sydney

Playing position: goalkeeper

Club highlights

League Cup winner with Middlesbrough 2003-04

UEFA Cup runner up with Middlesbrough 2005-06

Europa League runner up with Fulham 2009-10

Socceroos highlights

OFC Nations Cup winner with Australia in 2004

Asian Cup runner up with Australia in 2011

Qualified for 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups

Individual awards

Fulham player of the year 2008-09

FFA footballer of the year 2009 and 2010

Order of Australia Medal 2009

EPL player of the month February 2010

Capped 109 times for his country, Schwarzer was part of Australia's 2006 and 2010 World Cup campaigns, as well as the Socceroos' difficult but ultimately successful 2014 qualifying effort.

He made his international debut coming on as a substitute for Milan Blagojevic against Canada in a 1994 World Cup qualifier. Schwarzer foreshadowed his eventual prowess in penalty shootouts in the second leg of that clash, saving two spot kicks to send the Socceroos to the final qualifying bracket against Argentina.

Argentina would break Australian hearts that year, while more disappointment was to follow against Iran in 1997.

Schwarzer's greatest moment in Australian colours came in Sydney in 2005.

In a two-legged do-or-die clash against Uruguay to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Australia needed a result over the South Americans after copping a 1-0 reverse in the first leg in Montevideo.

Schwarzer kept up his end of the bargain with a clean sheet to hold on for a 1-0 win over 120 agonising minutes, but penalties were required to decide which team would qualify.

While the image of John Aloisi's shirtless celebration will live long in the memory, it was clearly Schwarzer's night as he came up big, saving two Uruguayan penalties to end the Australia's 32-year absence at the World Cup.

The 2006 tournament proved a mixed bag for Schwarzer, conceding a controversial goal against Japan while letting in two more against Brazil. He returned for the round-of-16 clash against Italy where Australia was eliminated via a debatable Francesco Totti penalty.

2010 proved an easier qualification task for Australia, but Schwarzer was on hand for more heroics in the process, stopping an 89th minute penalty against China's Shao Jiayi. He conceded just one goal in the second round of qualifying as Pim Verbeek's side breezed into the South African showpiece event.

The World Cup in South Africa again proved a difficult assignment for Schwarzer as handling mistakes contributed to a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Germany, and Australia ultimately failed to make it past the group stage.

Schwarzer was also part of the Socceroos side to make it all the way to the 2011 Asian Cup final, where Australia battled bravely before losing 1-0 to Japan in extra time.

Club career: Schwarzer fires up underdogs for cup runs

While Schwarzer will be lauded for his Socceroos exploits, his club career still goes on as he fights for a place in Premier League giant Chelsea's starting XI.

Schwarzer began his club career in Australia's National Soccer League with the Marconi Stallions in 1990, making a total of 58 appearances over four seasons.

The Sydney-born stopper left the NSL for Germany's Bundesliga, where he played a season with Dynamo Dresden before moving to FC Kaiserslautern in 1995.

He only managed six Bundesliga appearances in two seasons, but was snapped up by Bradford City, where Schwarzer featured 13 times in England's second tier.

Schwarzer's hopping from club to club every year continued as he made the move to Middlesbrough in 1997, where he finally established himself to make a home at the Riverside Stadium for 10 seasons.

His new team finished second in the First Division in 1997-98, earning promotion to the Premier League.

Schwarzer featured in the Middlesbrough side that won its first ever piece of silverwear, beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the 2003-04 League Cup final.

In 2004-05, Mark Schwarzer made arguably his most important save for Middlesbrough, stopping Manchester City striker Robbie Fowler's penalty to earn a seventh-placed finish for the Boro, qualifying for the UEFA Cup at City's expense.

That qualification proved extremely fruitful for Schwarzer's Middlesbrough as the club embarked on a run to the final. Schwarzer was named man of the match in the knock-out away legs against AS Roma and Steaua Bucharest.

Boro's run ended in the final as Seville outclassed the English club 4-0.

Schwarzer's love affair with the UEFA Cup continued with his new club Fulham, who he joined in 2008 after making 367 league appearances for Middlesbrough.

Schwarzer was part of Roy Hodgson's Fulham team which miraculously made it to the final of Europe's second-tier competition - now rebadged as the Europa League - including historic wins over Shakhtar, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg.

Fulham ultimately fell short in the final, but not without a real fight, taking Atletico Madrid to extra time before falling to a 2-1 defeat.

Schwarzer made 172 appearances for Fulham in a five-year spell with the west London club, before making the surprising decision to move to Chelsea, where he has since struggled to usurp Czech keeper Petr Cech for the Blues' number one spot.